Marathi Bana

Hey this is really not a political blog. Infact surprisingly it’s a film review .Got you’ll there huh. Before getting to the review I must let you all know what transpired before.
I got tickets for the marathi film “Kadachit” which has been getting good reviews. I was looking forward to watching a marathi movie after a long time. My mom, myself and a friend went to the cinema. The show was to start at 1030hrs. The doors remained closed at 1030…. Same story at 1045. As is normal for a regional film, there were hardly about 15-20 of us. We started getting restless and asked the doorman what the matter was. He told us that the print had not come. We were surprised to say the least as the movie had been running at this particular cinema hall (Gossip) for more than two weeks.
He told us that one print was sent from one cinema hall to the other across Mumbai. This morning they had still not got the print back from whichever cinema it had gone to. He said they were trying and at about 1100 he told to go in an be seated. Well, hardly had the derriere come in contact with the seat, the doorman came in and told us the show was cancelled. By now we were really irritated. There were quite a few old people for this show. Some had come from places like Borivali to see the movie. We were told that our tickets would be refunded.
We told the cinema management that the money wasn’t important. People had made time to come to the cinema at 1030 in the morning which is an extremely odd time, so that they could watch the film. No go. He told us, it was late to start the show as the other shows would get affected.
By other shows he meant the hindi movie which was the next show. The manager told us we could come back for that. Well why should we? We had gone there specifically to watch the marathi movie. For him obviously the hindi movies were his bread and butter so he didn’t want anything to mess up that schedule.
There was a couple who were extremely angry about the shoddy treatment we were dealt with as they had come from far. They refused to get the refund.they also requested us to join them. Another man told us that it is mandatory for the cinema to show the marathi movie as otherwise if a complaint was made their license could be cancelled. I wasn’t aware of this rule. Since he was so confidant we said yes we will also fight along with him. By that time some people had left after getting their refunds. About a dozen of us waited and told the manager if he cancelled this show we will contact the offices of Samna (the mouthpiece of shivsena) and also the offices of MNS. We could see that the manager was sweating. He could well do without such publicity. In exactly 5mins the print was brought to the cinema. He told us that he couldn’t have the show in the same movie hall. We told him, we were interested in the movie and not the hall. So he told us to go to a different hall (Gem) and we watched the movie.
There was a sense of victory and we did really enjoy the movie.
The movie itself was good. Ashwini Bhave is the main protagonist Gayatri. She’s a neurosurgeon. Her husband is an anaesthetist. She has a daughter. They are a happy family. Due a pathbreaking operation she becomes famous overnight and her pictures are in the news. Her father Prahlad,who’s just out of jail sees the picture and gives her a visit. The father has been put behind bars as he’s killed his wife (the protagonist’s mom) and this girl has been a witness. Her statement has put him behind bars. When he was sent to jail she’s been brought up in a girls institution. She prefers to look upon the man who looks after the institution as her father rather than her own. She hates him.
She gets a shock when she sees her father has been released. Her husband calls the police. The police take away the father but they can’t keep him in lockup as he provides proof that he’s the father. The husband has to get the father back home. The father tells Gayatri that he hasn’t killed her mother. It was true that she wanted to divorce him and they had their fights but he didn’t kill her. This totally shatters her faith in her memory. She was hardly a 10yr old at the time. He tells her that her perception was wrong. She looses her confidence and starts doubting her every decision. Matters come to a head when she is diagnosed with major mood disorder syndrome. She becomes depressive and od’s on a whole strip of anti depressants. Her whole career is in a mess. Her husband requests Prahlad to tell her that she was right when she saw him kill her mother, so that she can get her confidence back. He refuses.
During this time her guardian is diagnosed with brain tumour. He wants Gayatri to operate. Her husband finally tells him that she has been put in a mental institution.
How she finally puts her life back on track is the climax of this film, and gives meaning to the title.
The film has all good/leading marathi actors. Ashwini Bhave, Sachin Khedekar, Sadashiv Amrapurkar (as Prahlad…. He is too good… one can really hate this man… he gets under the skin of the character), Tushar Dalvi (as the psychiatrist). The movie is produced by Ashwini’s mom…. Directed by Chandrakant Kulkarni. It’s really worth a look. I loved the movie.
Well I would say Ms. Dixit Nene should take a page out of Ashwini’s book and do some good cinema instead of still doing movies which require more from the bosom and derriere than actual histrionics. Take a bow Ashwini!

The meeting which became a HIT: Jab we met

After a long time I saw a movie which was really sweet. An extremely simple and believable story. That's the way life is sometimes....if you believe in serendipity. Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor have both done justice to their roles. Though as an industrialist Shahid's character looks as if he is playacting wearing those biz suits. He looks too young..... as if the suits are too big for him and hence awkward. Though ofcourse Shahid has come a long way from when he was a puny young man in music videos.
The story is thus: Aditya is the son of an industrialist. After his father's death he's at the helm of a sick industry. He's also lost his girl to another man and doesn't have any interest in living. One day he just up's and leaves everything. He finds himself at the station and boards a train. Here he meets Geet. She's a bubbly Sikh girl, who's going back to Bhatinda. She saves Aditya's life when he's contemplating suicide. At one station Aditya gets off and thinking that he might commit suicide Geet gets off the train to get him back and thus they both miss the train. This is when she tells him that he has to get her home to Bhatinda as she has missed the train due him. She's going home to elope with her boyfriend. When they do finally get to Bhatinda, Aditya is accepted by her family. Geet still wants to elope and one day they elope. Aditya leaves her to go to her boy friend.
He comes back to Mumbai and gets back to building his empire. After many months, he gets to know that Geet never went back to her family. So he sets out find Geet. He finds her living in a Hostel in Simla and working as a teacher. Her boy friend refused to marry her and she's lost her effervescence. Aditya has to reunite her with her family. He makes her call her boyfriend Anshuman and tells her to give him a piece of her mind. Due this Anshuman realises his mistake and wants to get back with her. The three of them come back to Bhatinda. It's here that Geet realises that her feelings have changed. She has gotten over her infatuation with Anshuman and has started loving Aditya.
The humour in this movie is well written and the timing is good. No slapstick (thank God). Especially the Hotel Decent scene where Kareena is mistaken to be a call girl. Also scene where she blasts her boyfriend Anshuman for leaving her. I liked Dara Singh's character as the grand old man of the family who thinks that he knows everything and predicts that Aditya and Geet would marry. A simple movie without unnecessary dramatics. The songs have become a rage as one can hear them on all the FM channels especially Mauja, Nagada baja and Ye ishq hai. Though Mauja is a total item number which doesn't have anything to do with the story at all.
I would like to request Mr. Laloo prasad Yadav to make Shahid and Kareena the brand ambassadors of Indian Railways. He would probably mint. Most men wouldn't mind taking the train if they are going to meet someone like Bebo! :) Likewise for the women with Shahid Kapoor.... total eye candy. Will not comment on the gay community here as they have made Ranbir their poster boy as per the news in TOI. Also in the song Mauja theres a firang lady in a Coolie's uniform. She could be made brand ambassador for the Coolies (that would really upset Mr Kingfisher) as the colour combination would be the same and well one mode of transport could be mistaken for another. Hmmmmm!!
Anyway, bitching apart loved the movie..... paisa vasool.

Let's Enjoy

Hey the title of this movie says Let’s Enjoy…. So I thought well I should have a dekko and see if I can enjoy. It was a mixed bag. All new artists… (that means don’t ask me the names I can’t remember them )…. Except maybe one or two…. Well that’s Ashish Chowdhry and Arzoo Govitrikar.
These days theres a trend of having parallel stories and then all the characters come together for the grand finale. This is one of them. So this chap (Ashish Chowdhry) is a rich guy who's back from the US to seek his roots and also his former girlfriend Arzoo. It’s been 4 years and after going to US he hasn’t communicated with her at all. So this party at his farm house is an attempt to get her there, so that he can see whether he still has any feelings for her.
Then there’s a village bum who wants to make it big in the world of fashion as a model and so when he hears about this party he makes up his mind to gate crash it. At the party he meets a fashion designer (you got it right… the fashion designer is gay…. These days movies use this trump card…..) the designer is attracted to this guy… but the question is.. Is this chap ready to get into a relationship to promote his career?
The other story is about college sweethearts. This is their 5th anniversary and they decide to go to the party so that they can get some space for themselves. As they are being thrown out from a cinema due PDA they need somewhere to go and the party is the place. They manage to get some space only to find that the guy hasn’t brought a condom with him…. So part of the movie is about will they or won’t they…..!! Is this coming of age of hinglish movies, I wonder.
There are 3 guys in search of girls. So they want to go to the party to get some girls…. And they lose their way. ….
To go back to the main story….. Arzoo Govitrikar wants to go to the party but when she gets there and meets Ashish Chowdhry she can’t make up her mind if she still feels the same about him and then she meets a mysterious guy… a musician…..
The premise of this movie is good… but well lets just say that Arzoo is no Kajol (to give a more recent actor’s name)… through out the film she has a constipated look on her face… wonder if a person looks same when constipated or confused (that’s what she’s supposed to be) she should have asked her elder sis whos a doctor for some medicines before shooting. Well she couldn’t have asked elder sis Aditi for acting tips as they are nothing to write home about but she could have asked her medical advice. Ashish Chowdhry is OK as the guy throwing the rave party…. Coming to terms with his feelings and his roots.
Well this movie is definitely not a classic but if you have a couple of hours to while away… you can see this one. Music is nothing to write about, so will not.

Guru hoja shuru

Over the past few days I have heard a lot about the film Guru. Went to watch it this evening. It's a well made film. Mani Ratnam in his element. Open secret being that it's a film on the life and times of Dhirubhai Ambani. It's about how a village boy Gurukant wants to make it big and builds a huge empire. It's about how a man didn't let the rules stop him in his quest for success.
Abhishek Bachchan has done justice to his role as Guru and Aishwarya Rai has also done a good job. The last time I thought about Ash doing a good job was for her role in Kandukondein Kandukondein. The cinematography is really breathtaking.
A few small things that strike a wrong chord are that in the songs picturised there is a south indian ambiance rather than a gujarati one. Especially in the song "Tanna re".
After a long time one saw Mithun da in a role in which he could get his acting prowess to the fore rather than his pelvis. It's good to know that the talent didn't get lost in all his disco dancer roles.
Though seen in a cameo Vidya Balan stands out. This girl is real good. She's a natural. R. Madhavan was good too. Mallika Sherawat does an item in this movie.
On the topic of Mallika... I recently watched the film Pyar Ke side effects. Mallika Sherawat and Rahul Bose star in this movie. I really liked it. It's humour has the bite of say "When harry met sally" (which incidently is one of my most fave films). I guess these movies work more with urban audiences. Rahul Bose is a good actor but I guess his personality is such that he is more suited to this kind of cinema. This film is about a live in relationship and how things change when the couple get engaged. The doubts on the part of the man. The girl wanting the 3 tiny words. The break up and the coming back together. This movie has given Mallika a chance to act and she has done a good enough job. For once she isn't the "item" in this one. Theres another "item". Someone called baby doll who spoke as if she had difficulty mouthing her dialogues ..... well I don't know her name and didn't have the urge to find it out either.
Talking about "item" reminded me of the film "Dhoom2". Technically a well made film. What exactly Bipasha was doing in the film is open for debate. I guess one can't say no to Yash Chopra. I mean I didn't understand what one Bipasha was upto and imagine she had a double role. Abs amazing! This film had just about everything..... thrills/emotion/comic relief.... all put together on a cinematographically beautiful canvas.... but it was just that! Abs cold! They all looked good... did their job well and even then it wasn't the best movie I have watched. Even the much hyped kiss between Ash and Hrithik was just that..... like the director saying...... the script needs a kiss here... so lets put it there. The story reminded me of the Mandrake comic i had read as a kid. I still remember there was a story wherein the thief who if I remember right was called Camel and he would leave a small camel as his signature at the place of the theft like Hrithik leaves an A. He too was an ace at disguise. I think Yash Raj films have shifted focus from Mills and Boon to Mandrake.
I like watching Marathi films as well. Though there has been a dirth of good Marathi films in recent times. So this film came as a surprise. "Yanda Kartavya Aahey". When I started watching the film I thought that I was watching a wedding video. The story is about arranged marriages. In this film the hero has to get married because his granny is ill and she wishes to see him married. So he has an arranged marriage. The adjustments that the couple has to make. This film has a lot of innocence and middle class values which are completely lost in todays times. In hindi movies today no one bats an eyelid when the hero and heroine live together. The psyche of the urban Indian has changed and thats why this movie came as a surprise. Which showed how delicate the relations are and how a strong bond is forged between the married couple. How the focus shifts from the father being the most important person in a girl's life to her husband taking that place. The only jarring note in this film being the songs. Some are def not required. I feel the director shouldn't get into the rut of trying to fit in the songs ..... they just don't! All in all a nice CD to watch on a dreamy sunday.

Dor and Manini.

I quite like watching movies, though in recent times haven't been able to catch up due work pressure. Sometime back I saw this marathi movie "Manini", not the old black and white one. This is a new movie, shot in Dubai (well thank God that wasn't the USP of the movie). It has a feminist content. Actually I shouldn't say feminist in so much as hard core feminism but more about bigotry. There's the man (the Hero) who's working in Dubai and is having an affair with his colleague who is a divorcee with a child. Due to parental pressure he marries a girl from Ratnagiri and takes her to Dubai where he mistreats her. She meets a man who helps her out when she's lost in Dubai and he goes on to become a friend. The hubby starts suspecting her friendship. Thats when she leaves him and returns home to Ratnagiri. When the hubby follows her there and apologises to her she doesn't go back with him. She tells him that she would prefer to lead a life on her own terms... not as a dependant on him or her friend. It was a nice film though unfortunately the director got caught in the item number rat-race. So we have an item number with lot of pelvic movements to the beats of "padala pikla amba" (remixed). Frankly this song doesn't gel with the goings on.
Then I saw Dor... I loved the film. A film about a girl from North India who suddenly finds that her husband is an accused in murder in Saudi Arabia and how unless she gets the signature of the widow of the deceased on the document pardoning the accused he would be hanged. So she sets out in search of this girl. She's alone and is helped along by a bahurupiya. She befriends the widow and understands her plight of losing her loved one.Here too bigotry is shown... where the widowed daughter-in-law is supposed to stay in the house at all times and should wear a drab garb.... and though being young should not enjoy life. When it comes to saving the ancestral house the father-in-law is not against prostituting his daughter-in-law. Finally Zeenat (Gul Panag) gives the young widow the strength to break free from the shackles and make a life of her own.Gul Panag and Ayesha Takia have given good performances. Shreyas Talpade is also a good actor who can do justice to any role given to him. Even though he's not the main protagonist in this film.... one leaves the theatre taking with them memories of this lovable "bahurupiya". The film could have done without any songs as frankly the storyline doesn't demand any. Kesaria balama being the only one I could remember for it's earthy charm. Rest are forgettable.
Both the films had a good story line. Unfortunately the Marathi film lags behind as it doesn't enjoy a vast audience as a Hindi movie.

Itsy bitsy thingies.

A shoe-string budget ! I heard…. I was trying to figure out the meaning of that when I realized I shouldn’t look too far. The Bollywood (the film industry of Mumbai/Bombay) was the answer. Now you would ask me how this could possibly be when one hears that the film budget runs in crores! Oh well but the heroine’s budget is always hanging on a shoe string. Those itsy-bitsy thingies! The crores are spent on the lavish sets, the hero’s wardrobe and other technical matters and when it comes to our poor heroine….. whats left but a shoe-string.
It defies all reason how the heroine can prance in snowy locales in a mini skirt or in earlier times in gauzy chiffons and a barely there blouse when the hero was totally bundled in his designer woolies. In these computerized times one can say that they were not really there.. the scenes have been superimposed or something…. But what about in the non comp era. I don’t think superimposition of frames is the answer otherwise what would these lovely foreign locales do without Yash Chopra! So to keep their economy booming our heroines are back to shoestrings.
I remember a Marathi stand up comedian once commented that thank God there are no rag pickers on the sets otherwise they might just misunderstand the itsy-bitsies and then what would be the plight of the heroines?
But again theres a paradox in the shoestring budget. This I realized on watching a few Hindi movies. When they want to show that the heroine comes from a poor family she’s fully clothed ( in hindi movies it’s called being “ghar ki izzat”/ family honour ). So the father might not have money to eat but his daughter is fully clothed and when the heroine is shown to be from a rich family she gets to wear all these itsy-bitsies…. Why is that I might ask? Isn’t she “ghar ki izzat “? Or being rich means you have none of that what so ever. Or is it that the lavish houses shown to make us understand that they are rich cost so much that again the heroine’s budget hangs by a string. Just a thought here…which flashed through my mind…… don’t go by the lavish houses either…. It took me more than half of the movie Devdas (Bhansali’s… I had not seen the earlier ones and had not read the novel either…. So went to see the movie with no background about the plot) to understand that Paro came from a poor family and that was the hitch! The reason for their families not agreeing to the union. Looking at the sets I didn’t even have the faintest that Paro was from a poor family. It was only after three-quarters were over that theres a scene where the roof in her house is leaking and the mother saying something about not having the money for repairs….. this was the time when I actually came out of my seat and nearly yelled “Eureka”
Anyways sorry for digressing…. With women empowerment being at the fore front I do hope these heroines put there collective pretty feet firmly down and ask for more budget (substantially more) for their wardrobes or a medical insurance at the very least to save them the cost of treating Pneumonia.